Toyota: Building Skills for High-Demand Jobs

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Schools in the greater San Antonio area will soon have additional resources to help prepare youth for the jobs of tomorrow. Toyota USA Foundation, together with Project Lead The Way (PLTW), awarded $400,000 in grants to provide curriculum and teacher professional development focused on computer science, engineering, and biomedical science.

Twenty-five elementary, middle and high schools from Harlandale ISD, Lytle ISD, San Antonio ISD, Somerset ISD and Southside ISD, among others, received awards. The schools join 115 schools throughout the United States in receiving Toyota USA Foundation-funded grants to implement PLTW curriculum.

“Our aim is to help students develop critical thinking, problem solving and team building skills through hands-on learning experiences,” said Kevin Voelkel, Senior Vice President at Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Texas, Inc., speaking at Southwest Independent School District, part of 2018 Advanced Manufacturing Career Pathways/AMT Program Conference.

Last year Toyota USA Foundation awarded Southwest Independent School District a $1.7 million grant to equip classrooms with robotics, conveyors and other technologies, enhancing the district’s programs through “smart” classrooms, labs and specialized program spaces at the Southwest Legacy High School. The school opened last August and CAST STEM programming is slated to open at the campus in August.

“These investments are part of our overall effort to inspire, motivate and develop students, and equip their teachers with resources and tools to help students succeed,” added Voelkel.

“The growing partnership and continued support extended to San Antonio students from Toyota is powerful and will create life-changing opportunities for our students and the workforce,” said Dr. Lloyd Verstuyft, superintendent of Southwest ISD. “Creating partnerships between industry and education has never been more important. Providing students rigorous real-world education opportunities allows them to become tremendously more engaged in their learning experience and exposes our students to the vast array of potential possibilities in their future.

“Toyota is among a growing sector of industry that gets it,” Verstuyft continued. “The future workforce is currently sitting in our classrooms and the more we work in collaboration the more we contribute to a better tomorrow for our youth. Working in concert is what our students and communities need us to do and that is happening at an ever-increasing pace in San Antonio. Thank you, Toyota!”